Let’s face it, there’s a lot of you who were pretty excited with what Sea-Doo rolled out for 2016. Even more impressive, we the amount of PWC enthusiasts who vocalized how they hadn’t considered a Sea-Doo before last month’s unveiling. Because there’s no time to strike the iron than when it’s hot, Sea-Doo opened pre-orders for all 2016 models as well as offering an extended 3-year warranty on select models as well as some seriously worthwhile savings on financing.
According to Sea-Doo’s Pre-Order announcement, BRP’s 3-year warranty will be available “on select 2016 models and prior: eligible units are new and unused 2016 and prior Sea-Doo PWC models. The buyer of an eligible model will receive a 12-month BRP Limited Warranty plus a 24-month B.E.S.T. extended service contract subject to a $50 deductible on each repair.” (With an exception for Florida residents who will receive the 24-month BRP Limited Warranty.)
Additionally, Sea-Doo’s offering special low financing rates are available for eligible candidates with approved credit. As it states, “Approval and any rates and terms provided are based on credit worthiness. Multiple financing offers available. Other qualifications and restrictions may apply.”
All of this adds up to some serious savings over the long term, so if you’re as enamored with the 2016 Sea-Doos, there’s no reason to wait. You can go to Sea-Doo’s Pre-Order webpage, enter in your information and a local dealer will be put in charge of helping you take home the new ‘Doo of your choice!
It’s a common misconception to view riding gloves as solely a “cold weather” item. While yes, employing a pair of insulated riding gloves will help stimulate circulation, guard against chilled winds and help retain some body temperature, that’s not entirely their purpose. We find ourselves often wearing gloves when aggressive riding is on the schedule or traversing long or rough waters primarily for their added grip in addition to protecting skin that otherwise would be waterlogged or rubbed raw (or sometimes both). Gloves are tools like any other, and when properly made and used right, can be as useful as the ski you’re riding.
Over the years, we’ve cycled through several makes and brands of riding gloves and have found positives and negatives in all. The biggest points for judgement are three: fitment, grip and attachment. Beginning with the former, a major pet-peeve of ours is poor attachment straps. Either the brand or type of Velcro is insufficient to maintain a tight, secure strap around the wrist, or the strap itself is too thin and thereby lacks the necessary surface to adhere to. We’ve lost gloves (or simply thrown them in the trash) because of this one thing and we know we’re not alone.
Grip, of course, is mandatory is a glove is going to be of any use. Many opt to silkscreen the equivalent of “puffy paint” to the palms and fingers, which as most of us know, lasts less than a month or two (if that) before peeling off. Rather, we find gloves with extraordinary grip integrate a variety of materials into the palms and fingers, that not only drain or wick water, but offer the needed surface tension to remain locked in place. Finally, fitment is the great equalizer, as no glove regardless of its traction or Velcro will be used longer than once or twice if it isn’t comfortable to wear.
We’ve teased before that due to Jobe’s international fitment chart, Americans might have to adjust their ordering carefully. Thankfully, an XL pair of Jobe’s 2015 Ruthless Suction Gloves is the same whether here in the States or abroad. The gloves are stitched together from a handful of pieces of differing thickness of neoprene as well as nonslip amara fabric panels in the palms for increased grip. While the knuckles and pads of your palm aren’t as padded, thick panels atop and inside the hand are wrapped in thick padding.
The ring and little fingers feature unique segmentation for increased movement, while the middle and index fingers are made with thinner material with the aforementioned silk screened printing, presumably for some added grip. The texturing is noticeable when squeezing or releasing the throttle, but over several months of use, the printing is beginning to peel at certain spots.
The Suction gloves are cut short at the wrist, just below the palm with a wide Velcro strap securing the glove. We found the strap adequate in width and adhesion but wished it was cut a little longer to allow a little more range in adjustment. We did find the glove feeling slightly “old school” in its thickness, reminiscent of a thick neoprene diving glove used during the late 1980s. There are no drain holes and due to its thickness, requires more time than others to drain and dry.
Over this year, we’ve racked up some serious miles with the Suction gloves and they’ve held up rather well (besides the aforementioned peeling). The while panels have not discolored as we had falsely presumed, and the straps still tighten down securely. With that, we definitely can recommend Jobe’s Ruthless line to you, but because finding a dealer in the US is a little difficult, the best price we could find for the 2015 Jobe Ruthless Suction Gloves online for $68. Of course, smaller sizes decrease the cost respectively, but a near $70 pair of gloves is still a hefty tab for some.
Personal watercraft racing is commonly compared with motocross racing because that is where it was derived. During the 1970’s, motocross riders referred to it as mx on the water. They were also the pioneers of the sport of watercraft racing.
Still, there are no PWC’s exclusively designed for kids and there are no youth specific races in which to prepare them for the big leagues, so veteran IJSBA professional racer, Chris Hagset began the Junior Stars Program in 2007.
His idea was to provide the junior riders with knowledge that he and other pro racers gleaned from their years of competing. This would also help them grow the sport and give the up and coming generation of riders a smoother transition into the elite levels of racing.
The JR Stars Program has grown immensely due to the support from individual donors and companies within the jet boat industry. The program has become a staple of the IJSBA World Finals held in Lake Havasu, AZ in October of every year. Young riders from all over the world attend the event.
The program takes place on the starting line of World Finals where the youngsters are given an opportunity to grab priceless insight from their mentors. The kids learn about race prep, starts, strategy, fitness, eating healthy foods, sponsorship, and how to strategically use social media. It is an awesome program for everyone involved.
Yesterday’s JR Stars day at Lake Havasu offered a series of clinics, which were particularly informative as IFWA World Champion Mark Gomez walked the budding racers how to self-represent via social media, as well as other clinics on how to conduct an after-race interview (with IJSBA freestyle champion Jason Stoyer), and tips for mastering the starting gate with multi-time World Champions Mike Klippenstein and Josh Block.
If you are interested in attending or becoming a sponsor of the program, contact [email protected] or phone (928) 255-0230.
Whoa. If you were considering either purchasing, leasing or trading in your old watercraft for a new 2016 WaveRunner, then you’re in some serious luck. Yamaha is going full throttle in making it incredibly easy and affordable to take an all-new PWC. How? Through special financing on an exclusive Yamaha Card issued by Capital One. After opening your new Yamaha Card account, qualified buyers are eligible through 12/31/15 to capitalize on some serious savings.
If qualified and you’re looking for a new 2016 model, you could be eligible for 4.99%, 9.99% or 14.99% APR with minimum payments of either 3.01%, 3.20% or 3.44% of the purchase amount (based on your credit) until the purchase is paid in full. Now, if you’re in the market for a 2015 or older model still sitting at your local Yamaha dealer, then you could score a sweet deal (through your Yamaha Card) of 3.99%, 8.99% or 13.99% APR with minimum payments of 3.01%, 3.20% or 3.44% (on all new 2011-2015 WaveRunners – excluding V1 & V1 Sport).
So what happens if you’re just looking for something new but you just don’t have a lot of cash to drop on a FX SHO or that VXS you’ve been looking at? Well, eligible buyers can qualify for an incredibly low payment of $95 a month on select new V1 and V1 Sport models! Depending on your credit, you can qualify for an intro APR of 2.49% – that’s some seriously quality savings!
And don’t worry, Yamaha WaveRunners is continuing the industry’s only true Guaranteed Buyback program and one of the industry’s best watercraft leasing programs, for those who just aren’t sure if long term PWC ownership is right for them. There’s just a lot going on so check out Yamaha WaveRunners’ website for more info.
“The law of diminishing returns states that in all productive processes, adding more of one factor of production, while holding all others constant (‘ceteris paribus’), will at some point yield lower incremental per-unit returns,” so states digital info-dump Wikipedia. This constant looms over the heads of all companies, regardless of product, service or holdings. It is the point wherein doing the “same ol’ thing” no longer works anymore. Many are lucky, and can whether the storms of economic ebbs and floes without needing much change. Others live and die by the smallest twitch in the market. The personal watercraft industry is somewhat of an anomaly: although reticent to accept new technologies (ie. digital magazines), it’s enthusiasts have fully embraced them (ie. digital magazines).
Chances are, if you’re a manufacturer, a dealership or a custom shop within this niche industry, you’ve read the writing on the wall. Traditional print advertising yields little to zero result as so few would-be new customers subscribe to paper magazines. So you turned to Facebook (it’s free after all – well, to start that is), and that’s been good. Here’s the problem though, unless you’re aggressively pursuing, cultivating and feeding that Facebook/Twitter/Snapchat/Instagram/Google+ account, your reach will run out. Again, it’s the law of diminishing returns. So where to turn? The days of “build it and they will come” are gone. Today, we need to build it and take it to them. If you’re looking for fresh faces, you need to go to where the people are.
So where is that? Your best, easiest and most reliable source in this industry is The Watercraft Journal. No other outlet reliably produces more content, welcomes more new and returning PWC enthusiasts, and delivers more confidently on its obligations than any other magazine, forum or media outlet. Producing fresh, entertaining and informative magazine-quality articles each and every day, The Watercraft Journal has escalated to become the single-most popular personal watercraft magazine in North America (and is quickly zoning in on Australia) in just two short years. With nearly 1,000 articles published thus far, The Watercraft Journal also wields one of the largest catalogs of professionally-written “evergreen” PWC content on the Internet today.
You want your company to grow, to reach new and returning customers and a third-party resource to advocate and present your products. We at The Watercraft Journal want to continue to cultivate and support this intimate, niche industry and all those companies within it. This is a partnership ready to happen. Already over 20 companies have come to support The Watercraft Journal, and in return have been rewarded with high impact digital advertising, up-to-the-minute time-sensitive news posts, and intelligent and enjoyable feature-length content, all of which to direct its 200,000 annual readers to their storefronts. Let The Watercraft Journal be your partner and resource in helping grow your brand today. And here’s why:
September 2015
A Paradigm Shift In Trend
The above graphs might not mean much to the untrained eye, and that’s OK. What’s important to note is how September’s performance numbers stack up against August’s (which are compared below). Although more “users” or “unique visits” came to The Watercraft Journal in August, you’ll note that September’s readership read more articles and came back more often than ever before. Why is that? Well, there’s a multiplicity of reasons, but we wager its because no other publication was first or more thorough with some of the industry’s most important announcements, race coverage or product reviews. That always seems to be the case.
August
Total number unique readers: 33,396*
Total number of articles read: 79,334
Percentage of new readers: 63.5%
September
Total number unique readers: 31,502*
Total number of articles read: 81,373
Percentage of new readers: 55.5%
*This number is considered equal to an individual sale of a single copy of a magazine.
When Quality Matches Quantity
It’s important to note that in this day of immediacy that there is a reliable source for top quality, professionally-written magazine content that is published each and every single weekday. Pending a national holiday, you won’t see a day go by without new and uniquely-written articles from The Watercraft Journal. Providing coverage from the entirety of the personal watercraft industry – be it touring, fishing, racing, freestyle/freeride, or do-it-yourself tech – we bring the enthusiast the widest array of coverage possible. And we produce more sustainable content than any other publication, be them print or memory-sapping downloadable PDFs – both of which we don’t do.
News articles published in August: 22
Feature articles published in August: 16
Total feature word count: 13,899 words
News articles published in September: 21
Feature articles published in September: 17
Total feature word count: 17,261 words*
*When this number is translated to print publication standards equals a 136-page magazine. Please note that this number does not include an average of two uniquely-written news articles published daily.
Social Animals
As we’ve said before, The Watercraft Journal doesn’t require any sort of download, or paid subscriptions or even a password to log in and access our industry-leading content. What that has done is make us the single-most popular outlet for PWC news, reviews, tech and coverage in North America. We’re the first source that people check (we know, we have the data to prove it). And with our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and weekly newsletters, we bring our content directly to them. No waiting around for updates. No checking the mailbox. If they’ve got a computer, a laptop, tablet, smartphone or Apple Watch, they can read The Watercraft Journal
September Facebook likes: 14,438
Top Five countries: United States, Australia, France, United Kingdom, Canada
Changing Seasons
With the upcoming World Finals and the new 2016 models coming out, it also marks the slow closure of much of this continent prime riding season (yes, we know. All of you in Florida and California can still ride any time you wish. Quit rubbing it in). Yet, that didn’t stop The Watercraft Journal from growing during last year’s winter and it won’t for this year. In fact, this past January, February and March actually eclipsed 2014’s June, July and August! That’s an incredible indication of the power of this audience. So again, if looking to grow your clientele, reach a broader audience of would-be customers and spread the word about your brand, product and services, let The Watercraft Journal be your resource and email [email protected] about advertising your company in the single-most popular PWC magazine today.
The Watercraft Journal: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself, and about who first got you riding.
Wyland Reden: [I’m] 11-years-old, and lived on the big island of Hawaii for almost four years. I was in the ocean everyday during that time. My dad bought two 550 Kawasaki’s, he gave me the 1989 ski. By his mistake, he gave me the faster one! His was slow as molasses. Sometime at the end of 2013, we started riding at Lake Elsinore and Oceanside harbor.
WCJ: What got you interested in racing? Where and when was your first race? What class did you race? How did you do?
WR: My uncle Shaun used to race way back in the day. He gave my dad some buoys to help him learn to ride. But instead, it helped me more. My dad is new to the race scene. He grew up surfing and was a pro surfer back then. He is great in the ocean, surfs, SCUBA dives, freedives and all the other stuff, but struggles to keep up on his ski. He cuts buoys to try and stay in front of me.
My first race was at Lake Perris in the 2014 Jettribe West Coast series. My friend/coach, former world champion Mike Yellich (known as “Mauler”) wanted me to race the juniors, just to get a taste to see how I would do and to see if I would like it. He told me I would get smoked by them since all kids were racing 800s and they had a lot of experience – but study the lines they were taking. He was right. I got “smoked” but learned a tremendous amount.
WCJ: Why are you choosing to race vintage? Have you ever been on an 800? How was it?
Well, I saw the all the legends racing 440s and 550s on YouTube. I wanted to ride like them. All my favorite riders raced 550s. 550s are the most challenging skis to ride. They are not stable and very squirrely which makes them fun. Yes, I have ridden a couple 800s, and even a 950. I like them, they are much easier to ride, they turn on a dime, much faster and plow through any chop. They will be fun to race in the future.
WCJ; Who are favorite riders?
WR: I have watched and learned the most from videos of Jeff Jacobs, Mauler, Chris Fischetti, Chris MacClugage and Victor Sheldon. I’m a big fan of Aaron Geweski and Brock Austin, and look forward to seeing them race GP class at World Finals 2015. My teammates Brooks D’Antonio and Brian Holland are awesome riders and great mentors. I think they are going to do extremely well at Finals. But by far, Mark Gomez is my all time favorite, a legend in the making. He puts on the ultimate show! Shreds anything he rides. Always positive and in good spirits and a great role model for all of us. He is the huge reason why I and my friends are so much into this sport. We all want to ride like him.
WCJ: Tell us about your race boat, what do you like about it? Who works on it? Do you wrench on it?
WR: Last year my dad upgraded me to a 1991 Kawasaki 550 with a reed motor that he bought from a really cool family that races the 800s. They no longer used it so they brought it from Utah to Lake Havasu, and met us at Chris Fischetti’s race. I raced it that day. It has a few aftermarket parts, like a factory halfpipe and dual carbs. It sounds really cool. Dad worked on all my skis but struggled with the major stuff. Mauler helped my dad build my ski. Now Jason with BJ’s Performance does all my motor work. BJ’s builds race skis and incredible 550s.
WCJ: What lakes you like to ride at?
WR: My dad calls it “Leech Lake.” And yes, there are lots of leeches. It’s always an adventure. We have to 4WD back there. It usually takes us 25-to-30 minutes on dirt roads. There is a shorter way we can take though its super gnarly. My brother and I call it “Heart Attack Hill.” Its super steep with huge roots and rocks next to a cliff. My uncle followed us one time and he ripped off his running boards. One time my mom was with us and dad decided to take her that way. Holy cow, she cursed him the whole way.
WCJ: Who would you like to thank? Sponsors?
WR: I am extremely grateful of my parents, without them I wouldn’t be in this sport. My sponsors have been a huge help! Mauler has been there since the beginning helping with ski and coaching. BJ’s Performance, Jason is a great mechanic/rider he works on my motor making fast and reliable. Team riders Brooks and Brian are always giving me great tips and help with ski, Impros Impellers, Havasu Watercraft Escondido, IPD Graphics, Jet Renu, C-57 and Charles Sims, JetPilot, Aquanuts, and Mark Gomez. I am so thankful of these people! I would not be able to race without their help.
Normally, this is the sort of stuff you’d expect to hear coming out of Australia, but not today. Lieutenant Gregory Rose with the Sarasota County Beach Patrol received a call that an alligator was swimming alongside the South Jetty in Venice, reported Fox 35.
“I have been there 20 years out here and was the first time I was ever involved with,” Rose told Fox. He raced aboard a Yamaha VX WaverRunner to confirm the sighting. Although the alligator was approaching a populated area of beach goers, it appeared not to be pursuing prey. Rose said, “It was just kind of doing its own thing there. Wasn’t aggressive or anything.”
Rose acted to mitigate the threat, jumping from his ski to wrangle the ‘gator until animal control could relocate it. “They are pretty stealthy. You won’t hear them and unless you are looking you won’t know they are there,” Rose explained. And while its unusual to see an alligator in saltwater, Rose said they have had a few similar calls before.
The greatest achievements are often born out of direst of conflict. It is no secret that late last year’s divorce of Pro Watercross Tour from the IJSBA was a messy one, with racers unclear as to which series to compete in, whether AJ Handler would have a rule book completed in time and if the IJSBA would even have a National Tour. By the first two Florida rounds of the 2015 Pro Watercross Tour, racers and crews alike had a pretty clear idea that Handler and his staff were putting on a quality series.
So when the 2015 Broward Motorsports Pro Watercross World Championships Presented by Yamaha were announced for Sugden Regional Park in Naples, FL, many arranged their schedules accordingly. Racers like James Bushell, much of the Kuwaiti race team, and Chris MacClugage, who was the tour’s Pro Ski GP leader until Lake Hartwell, GA. Macc had fought back Dustin Motzouris until exacerbating a back injury while competing overseas, causing the 19-time World Champion to sit out the rest of the tour. For the Championships this past weekend, Macc returned to his hometown to snatch the Pro-Am Ski GP title and $5,000.
Understand that the inaugural event also saw the return of a substantial cash purse for the Pro-Am Ski GP, Pro-Am Runabout Open, Pro Freestyle and Sport GP classes – totaling $19,000. That with Sunday’s “Pro Show” to air on CBS Sports, had racers vying for both big money payouts and telecast celebrity. Before then, the World Championships hosted Junior, Novice, Amateur, Veteran and Masters classes with hundreds of racers competing for a crack at a Pro Watercross World Championship title.
Beginning with a fresh sheet of paper, Pro Watercross’ selection of Sudgen Regional Park, proved an immediate success. In discussing the location with The Watercraft Journal, 2015 Pro Runabout Stock champion Troy Snyder beamed, “I tell you what, Naples, Florida, has a great race site. [The] best spot we’ve been in many years. AJ made some great leadership additions to his staff and that really brought the other staff members to a higher level. With out a doubt the best pro weekend of racing I’ve see in years. The future looks bright for years to come.”
Equally, Stan Hightower who won 2015 Pro-Am Super Stock championship echoed Snyder’s praise of the venue, track and staff, “[The] race site [was] awesome, [the] course was challenging (technical on one side, fast on the other). The rules were used a lot. I had fun racing.” James Bushell applauded, “It’s great news [that] they will be racing there for the next 3 years, I look forward to next year when it will be bigger and better.” And Motzouris’ younger brother Tyron said, “I though the world championships were awesome and have a lot of potential. I really liked the venue and will definitely be back next year!”
Tyron flew in from South Africa to join his sibling and fellow Rockstar Energy/Kommander Industries/Burn/Villon teammates before charging the Pro-Am Ski Open class. He explained, “It was a really close race. We had a few less guys in Pro Ski Open but the level was really high with David Redinger, Brock Austin, and Dustin, and I was really happy to get the overall win in that class.” Despite Sunday’s flash thunderstorms that delayed a few motos, the talent on tap never wavered.
Hidden Trails Pro Watercross National Champion Erminio Iantosca was a shoe-in for the Pro-Am Runabout Open class. For the Sea-Doo/Jettribe/Hydro-Turf/RIVA Racing/Villon racer, the race was going well. “I hole-shotted Bushell, was out front and on the fourth lap, broke a steering cable,” Iantosca lamented. “I really had a chance of winning but those are some of the things that happen when you start making more and more power, so we will get it sorted and be back stronger for the next race.”
Those who were competing in both the World Championships and the IJSBA World Finals had to put in double duty. “My Dad busted his butt on my skis to make sure I had the best stuff I could possibly have,” Iantosca said. Sea-Doo applauded his efforts and congratulated the Pro Watercross Tour on its first World Championship event in Naples, Florida this past weekend and X-TEAM riders James Bushell and Cameron Frame for claiming the Pro-Am Runabout Open and Pro-Am Runabout GP championships, respectfully. Frame was challenged by Stan Hightower who also participated in several classes on Jeff Dykowski’s machine built by Kerry Hibdon.
“I had fun in Pro-Am Limited,” Hightower explained. “I came down the front straight side-by-side with Cameron Frame (whose Pro Runabout GP class was combined with Limited) probably running 75mph and took the three reds [buoys] almost side-by-side for the holeshot. I [also] ran Pro-Am Runabout Open as a fill-in rider and finished 4th. I won Expert Limited but got docked for missing a buoy on the start.”
Snyder, who struggled to juggle two racing series as well as with health problems throughout much of this year questioned whether 2015 would be his last. “I told Tim Judge and Bo Dupriest, ‘I’m not quitting. That’s not how I roll. The slugger is a fighter not a quitter.’ We made some changes on my RIVA Racing/Judge Motorsports/Hydro-Turf/JetPilot 2015 Yamaha FZR with some new props I had been developing, and BAM! I’m the 2015 Pro Watercross World Champion in Pro Stock.”
Those who arrived for the first annual Pro Watercross World Championships were also rewarded with some other perks. “It was cool having CBS Sports there. [It’s] definitely going to help grow our sport,” Iantosca concluded. “[We] had a sit down dinner awards banquet. [It was] nice.” As each winner was presented with a special trophy and congratulated each one on their achievement, Chris MacClugaged echoed the sentiment shared by all in attendance, “[It’s] how the awards should be.”
Sunday, September 27, 2015: Pro-Am Runabout Open – James Bushell, Cambridge, UK, Pro-Am Ski GP – Chris MacClugage, Lake Havasu, AZ, Pro-Am Runabout Stock – Troy Snyder, Bradenton, FL, Sport GP – Billy Dearman, Madison, MS, Pro Freestyle – Jason Widdes, Chicago, IL, Pro-Am Ski Open – Tyron Motzouis, Empangeni, South Africa, Pro-Am Women’s Ski Ltd – Bibi Carmouche, Phoenix, AZ, Pro-Am Runabout SS – Stan Hightower, Lindale, GA, Pro-Am Runabout BOX Stock – Billy Dearman, Madison, MS, Junior Ski 10-12 Stock – Haden Skellett, Port Charlotte, FL, Junior Ski 13-15 Limited – Matt Richuk, High Point, NC
Saturday, September 26, 2015: Amateur Freestyle – Jason Widdes, Chicago, IL,
Friday, September 25, 2015: Pro-Am Ski Limited – Bibi Carmouche, Phoenix, AZ, Pro-Am Ski Lites – Callaway Turner, Apex, NC, Pro-Am Runabout GP – Cameron Frame, Charleston, WV, Pro-Am Runabout Limited – Travis Zielasko, Lake Worth, FL, Women’s Runabout Limited – Shante Bukes, South Africa, Sport Stock – Sam Nehme, Cooper City, FL, Junior Ski 10-12 Lites – Haden Skellett, Port Charlotte, FL, Junior Ski 13-15 Lites – Matt Richuk, High Point, NC, Junior Ski 13-15 Stock – Matt Richuk, High Point, NC
Thursday, September 24, 2015: Amateur Ski GP – Jordon Carroll, Fowery Branch, GA, Expert Ski Limited – Pete Kuncinski, Largo, FL, Expert Runabout Limited – Victor Nolan, Expert Runabout Open – Jeff Dyckowski, Rydel, GA, Runabout N/A – Rob Greenwald, Marietta, GA, Throwback Thursday Classes: Runabout 800 Superstock – Tim Ducat, Belleview, FL, Vintage X2 – Gary Burtka, Rolling Meadows, IL, Vintage Ski 550 – Clay Barbee, Houston, TX
Tuesday – Wednesday, September 22-23, 2015: Amateur Runabout Box Stock – Rashed Aldawas, Kuwait City, Kuwait, Amateur Runabout Stock – Juan Rada, Medellin, Colombia, Amateur Runabout 2-stroke Limited – Robert Sayah, Naples, FL, Amateur Runabout 1000 cc – Robert Sayah, Naples, FL, Amateur Ski Lites – Callaway Turner, Apex, NC, Novice Runabout Limited – Rashed Aldawas, Kuwait City, Kuwait, Novice Runabout Stock – Rashed Aldawas, Kuwait City, Kuwait, Novice Ski Limited – Laura Milone, Delray Beach, FL, Novice Women’s Ski Limited – Laura Milone, Delray Beach, FL, Masters Ski GP – Kirk Britto, Bradenton, FL, Runabout Lites – Paul Green, Toronto, Canada, Veterans Runabout SS – Jeff Dyckowski, Rydel, GA, Veteran’s Ski GP – Pete Zernik, Sacramento, CA
Maybe it’s because we’ve become jaded from spending too much time on the Internet, but we’re a little dubious of this “super ski.” Unveiled publicly at the Frankfurt Motor Show, but announced shortly before, German luxury car customizer Mansory Design & Holding, are known for their heavy modification of already stellar machines. Looking to expand their reach to illustrate their range of personalization, the carbon fiber specialist applied their skills to a Sea-Doo RXT-X 260 RS (the “RS” signifying an un-USCG-regulated international model).
As per Mansory’s statement, “During the refinement process, Mansory were able to fall back on their experience of the material carbon fibre, accumulated over decades. Use of this extremely strong, ultra-light material has saved up to 10 kilogrammes in weight – and at the same time, the Mansory designers have given the jet ski a significantly more dynamic, aggressive design.”
Unfortunately, upon closer inspection of the two videos here, it appears that much of the carbon fiber used was mainly an overlay atop of the factory gel coat with some added embellishments to the already angular BRP design. Added louvers, coves and extended blades add to the ski’s uniqueness, but overall doesn’t truly reveal any actual replaced panels – except for the hood, as it now features twin LED light banks. The customizer claims a total of 10 kilos (20 pounds) have been shaved from the ski. Not a significant amount.
As to further modifications made to the Sea-Doo, Mansory stated, “The carbon-made structures, combined with the precise, hand-crafted modified seat made of special, seawater resistant artificial leather, make the Black Marlin a luxurious eye-catcher. A powerful engine conversion up to 550HP is in the final testing stage.”
Alas, there’s the ringer: “A powerful engine conversion up to 550HP is in the final testing stage” with emphasis on the words “up to” and “final testing stage.” Many tuners make claims before actually delivering on their promises, and it would appear that Mansory was no different in this case. Besides replacing the panel latches, gas cap, and iBR cover with Mansory badging, a lot of carbon fiber wrapping and a few bits and pieces recast in the lightweight material, the Black Marlin has yet to be proven as a true performer. So before the Internet is set ablaze with claims of another “super ski” make sure you do your due diligence first.
Yes, it’s only September, but planning for the 12th annual Daytona Freeride is well underway. Thanks to all the effort of event promoter Nicholas Foederer, next year’s Daytona Freeride is shaping up to be the biggest yet – and not just in the US, but across the globe (according to Nicholas). Scheduled for January 14th-through-17th, 2016, the Daytona Freeride has also one very big announcement to make: an all-new title sponsor!
According to a Facebook post by Nicholas, Blacktip Jetsports is the event’s new title sponsor. He writes, “Super stoked to announce the new title sponsor for 2016, Blacktip Jetsports distributed by Watercraft Superstore and SBT. Watercraft Superstore and SBT have been an integral part of the Daytona Freeride since the very beginning and have always stepped up and shown huge support for the ride. I’m proud to have this organization be a part of the 2016 Daytona Freeride.
“Look for lots of killer deals from them and as usual they will be there providing great products and killer deals. Get ready for the best freeride yet: 2016 Blacktip Jetsports Daytona Freeride! I will be working with them to make the ride better and more fun for everyone. Dates are: January 14th-17th 2016, don’t miss it!”
Blacktip Jetsports is quickly becoming a premier brand within the personal watercraft industry, offering both OE-level and high quality, hand-stitched and/or laser-cut replacement seat covers, handlebar covers and traction mats, as well as ski covers, storage covers and vinyl graphic kits for nearly every make and model of PWC imaginable.
